1
Wales player ratings vs England | 2023 Summer Nations Series
By PA
Wales player ratings: England have beaten Wales 19-17 in their international match at Twickenham in what was a scrappy and at times chaotic affair in west London.
Here PA rate the Welsh players:
15. Liam Williams - 8/10
Provided a threat to England throughout the game. Elusive in attack and always looking for work.
14. Josh Adams - 6
Won his 50th cap and was denied a try by an illegal Freddie Steward tackle.
13. Joe Roberts - 8
An outstanding debut by the Scarlets centre, who ran and tackled strongly. Created a try for Tomos Williams and put himself firmly in the World Cup selection mix.
12. Nick Tompkin - 7
An accomplished performance in attack and defence from the Saracens centre. Showcased all his experience.
11. Tom Rogers - 5
A quiet game from the Scarlets wing, although he compiled one threatening attacking moment from limited opportunities.
10. Owen Williams - 6
Whether he did enough to make Wales’ final World Cup squad remains to be seen, but a solid contribution. 6
9. Tomos Williams - 8
Comfortably Wales’ first-choice number nine. Scored a try and was impressive in all areas.
1. Gareth Thomas - 6
Recovered well to lift Wales’ scrummaging effort following early England control.
2. Dewi Lake - 5
The hooker’s first game as Wales captain ended after just 26 minutes when he limped off, giving head coach Warren Gatland a major pre-World Cup scare.
3. Tomas Francis - 6
Did his job, but could come under pressure for a World Cup starting place.
4. Rhys Davies - 6
Offers Wales second-row and back-row options, which could serve him well in terms of World Cup selection.
5. Adam Beard - 5
Took over the captaincy after Lake went off, but blotted his copybook with a late yellow card that led to England’s match-winning penalty.
6. Dan Lydiate - 6
A solid defensive shift from the experienced flanker, who could find himself part of another World Cup squad.
7. Tommy Reffell - 6
Was yellow-carded for a technical offence, but also showed some impressive glimpses in attack and defence.
8. Taine Plumtree - 5
Another player whose evening ended early after he suffered what appeared an arm injury. It was a mixed-bag performance before then.
Replacements - 6
A big effort from the Wales replacements, but they could not offer a sufficient enough collective impact as England fought back.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Stuart Lancaster takes giant stride towards immediate Racing 92 exit
3
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh on Joe Schmidt’s future post-Lions
4
Glasgow coach jumps to defence of McDowall who faces possible huge ban
5
Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
Go to comments